Strawberry Delight

Erma, do you have ANY recipes that are not alcohol laden? I remember you telling me about your teetottling grandmothers and great aunts who believed that No lady would ever be caught drinking, yet nearly all their recipes seem to start with, “Go to the liquor cabinet and pick up several bottles of ___.”

Let’s face it, Erma, if your family’s recipes are any indication of the alcohol consumption of the female population of the Old South, they didn’t have to “drink.” The desserts alone would have brought pink to their cheeks.

Erma, if Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Ritchie and the other Hollywood spoiled brats are going to serve time for multiple DUI’s, not even the Celebrity Jail is going to put your Strawberries Romanoff on the menu, but I’ll bet they all would love it. On the other hand, this “Hot weather refresher” is elegant enough for the picky celebs, AND is not packed with alcohol.

Strawberry Delight:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup butter
2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
3 cups fresh strawberries
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup heave cream

Melt the butter in a small saute pan. Then mix in the flour, brown sugar, and pecans. Spread mixture in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Cool and then with a heavy rolling pin, roll out into crumbs.

Sprinkle about 2/3’s of the crumbs into a pretty 13 x 9 inch dish with a top.

In a heavy duty mixer, such as the KitchenAid Artisan Mixer, beat the egg whites, sugar, strawberries and lemon juice on high speed until stiff peaks form. Change or clean the beaters, and whip the heavy cream in another chilled bowl.

Fold the whipped cream into the strawberry mixture, and then spread dover the crumbs. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs over the top. Place the lid on the dish and freeze for at least 6 hours. This makes about 12 servings when cut into small squares.

In a crunch, you can make this with with thawed, frozen strawberries (unsweetened), or 3 cups of fresh peaches, or thawed, frozen peach slices (unsweetened).